Massive Rainbow Caught, Released Below Oroville Dam

This is a huge trout! Joshua Giordano posted the massive rainbow pic – the fish was released back into Thermalito Diversion Pool on the Feather River below Oroville Dam  – on Facebook. 

Here’s a screen shot:

The Stockton Record interviewed Giordano and pondered if the released trout was a new record:

Josh Giordano of Bangor was fishing a slip bobber with a small swim bait in the Thermalito Diversion Pool on the Feather River below Oroville Dam on Dec. 7 when he hooked and released a huge rainbow trout. He estimated it to be 38.2 pounds, based on the fish’s measurements of 41 inches in length and 27 inches in girth.

By contrast, the current inland rainbow state trout record recognized by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife of 27 pounds, caught by Frank Palmer in Lake Natoma in 2005, measured 37.5 inches long and 26 inches in girth. …

“When I hooked this fish I knew immediately how giant it was when it peeled off 150 yards of line in about 20 seconds. I have never seen the power of a fish like it. The fish continued to jump, tail walk and do things I’ve never seen fish do on the surface,” he said.

Official record or not, it was quite a moment for Giordano.